In tonight’s episode of Community, I am reliably informed (by their commercials — and my prophetic dreams) that the gang will be playing a little D&D.

That’s fun. But it makes me a little itchy.

It makes me itchy because I haven’t rolled the bones — meaning, I have not gamed — in quite a long time. Too long. In fact, it’s been at least eight or nine months.

By and large, it’s difficult for adult life to accommodate any kind of regular gaming. This isn’t unusual, mind — I can’t tell you how many dudes in their mid-30s who say, with a faint ember still in their eye (and the clatter of a 20-sider echoing in their brain chamber), “Oh, man! I used to game.”

And I know it’s not going to get a damn sight easier once the Tiny Monkey comes into our life, heaving everything upside-down. Frankly, I’m probably going to have to hide my dice just because they’re a choking hazard.

Kids, man. Kids. They try to eat everything. I almost choked to death on a penny when I was a tot. I can only imagine how many d10s my nascent heir will be able to jam down his windpipe.

On the one hand, I miss it. On the other hand, part of me thinks: man, I’ve got things to do. Like, I want to play video games more often, but when I do, I tend to find myself wanting to do other stuff. Sometimes, I even have these absurd moments where I think, “I’d rather be doing the dishes because the dishes need doing.” Is this adulthood? It feels like a brain parasite. Get me a coat hanger and some anti-fungal paste.

Second, I beseech you: anybody found a way to play without actually sitting across the table from folks? Anybody game over Skype? Is there an iPad solution of which I’m not yet aware? Help a brother out.

Two more tiny things:

I think I might do a free PDF writing up some of my “irregular creatures” as statted-up World of Darkness monsters. Because, hey, why the fuck not? Could be fun. Shits and giggles. You know. For the kids.

Also, why the hell aren’t you watching Community again? Sheesh.

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I just finished my weekly Exalted game and my bimonthly games of Exalted (different group) and Mage. I’m playing Vampire in the weekly 4-hour slot while I prepare the next two games I’m running – Eclipse Phase for the regular slot and Hellas for the occassional one.

I work in the oil industry away from home a minimum of 2 weeks out of the month and then my schedule when I’m home is about as predictable as the Tasmanian Devil on a blend of good acid and methamphetamines. Despite that I still manage to make regular attendance to 3 games and I’m currently working on getting a fourth started. I run a game called Qin – Warring States, which is based in China circa 240BC that takes a lot of inspiration from historical Wuxia movies. It’s translated from french and the book is a bit odd in the way it presents the rules but it’s simple and fun and I’m quite enjoying it. I run that one over Skype and usually do it on Sundays and Mondays.

Tuesday my friend runs an old game called Immortal – The Invisible War which we’ve converted to a system a friend and I designed. He runs that over Skype as well.

When I’m home I play a game of Exalted at the local gaming club on the Mondays that I’m in town. I keep up with the goings on of that game through a Facebook group when I’m not in town. I play a Sidereal so it’s not a problem for me to come and go as I please in that game.

Soon I hope to start up a re-imagining of Cyberpunk played over Savage Worlds for some of the content developers at Nevermet Press over Skype. I just need to find some good online dice rollers and card drawing tools that will work with Savage Worlds. Currently the best online dice roller I’ve found was designed for Exalted so it only works with D10’s.

It’s been a while since you posted this update, but I hope you get to read this comment, Chuck.

If you’re looking to get into a pen-and-paper online, I have a few suggestions for you.
First is the virtual tabletops: These are programs (often Java based) that include virtual dice, chatbox, a ‘table’ for creating and placing maps, and other features.

“Second, I beseech you: anybody found a way to play without actually sitting across the table from folks?”

If you’re willing to try gaming solo (or even just generate quick open-ended plots), I’d heartily recommend Mythic (or just the Mythic GM Emulator if you’re looking to use the important part for another game). By Tom Pigeon. Seriously, it’s awesome.

Otherwise, if you’re looking for resources for facilitating online, I’m all about Maptool by the folks at RPTools. Free and awesome.